SHARE ON: |
| |
| |
 |
 |
|
|
A Texas nurse was convicted Tuesday of capital murder in the deaths of four patients who died after prosecutors say he injected them with air following heart surgeries.
The Smith County jury deliberated for about an hour before finding William George Davis, of Hallsville, guilty of capital murder involving multiple victims. Prosecutors planned to seek the death penalty during the sentencing phase, which was scheduled to start Wednesday.
Davis, 37, was accused of injecting air into the four patients arteries after they underwent heart surgery at the Christus Trinity Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler in 2017 and 2018. During recovery from their surgeries, the four -- John Lafferty, Ronald Clark, Christopher Greenway and Joseph Kalina -- suffered unexplained neurological problems and died.
During the trial, Dr. William Yarbrough, a Dallas-area pulmonologist and professor of internal medicine, explained to the jury how injecting air into the arterial system of the brain causes brain injury and death.
Yarbrough said he was able to determine there was air in the arterial system of the victims brains by viewing images from brain scans -- something he said he had never before observed in his decades in medicine.
He ruled out blood pressure problems or any other causes of death besides the injection of air, and said it must have happened after the surgeries because the complications occurred while the patients were in recovery.
Defense attorney Phillip Hayes told the jury that the hospital had issues and that Davis was a scapegoat who was only charged because he was there when the deaths occurred.
Prosecutor Chris Gatewood said during closing arguments that Davis liked to kill people. And prosecutor Jacob Putman said the hospital hadnt changed any of its procedures and hadnt had any similar incidents since Davis left.
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
2 pm |
| 27 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
WIND: SSE 33 KM/H
GUSTING TO 40 KM/H |
|
|
 |
3 pm |
| 27 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
WIND: SSE 35 KM/H
GUSTING TO 41 KM/H |
|
|
 |
4 pm |
| 27 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
WIND: SSE 36 KM/H
GUSTING TO 43 KM/H |
|
|
 |
5 pm |
| 27 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
WIND: SSE 33 KM/H
GUSTING TO 44 KM/H |
|
 |
 |
6 pm |
| 27 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
WIND: SE 34 KM/H
GUSTING TO 48 KM/H |
|
|
 |
7 pm |
| 26 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
WIND: SE 35 KM/H
GUSTING TO 53 KM/H |
|
|
 |
8 pm |
| 23 ℃ |
| OVERCAST CLOUDS |
WIND: SE 32 KM/H
GUSTING TO 57 KM/H |
|
|
 |
9 pm |
| 20 ℃ |
| OVERCAST CLOUDS |
WIND: SE 35 KM/H
GUSTING TO 65 KM/H |
|
 |
 |
 |
TODAY |
HIGH OF 27 ℃
LOW OF 8 ℃ |
| LIGHT RAIN |
|
|
 |
THURSDAY |
HIGH OF 16 ℃
LOW OF 9 ℃ |
| MODERATE RAIN |
|
|
 |
FRIDAY |
HIGH OF 11 ℃
LOW OF 2 ℃ |
| RAIN AND SNOW |
|
|
 |
SATURDAY |
HIGH OF 10 ℃
LOW OF 1 ℃ |
| LIGHT SNOW |
|
 |
 |
SUNDAY |
HIGH OF 5 ℃
LOW OF 1 ℃ |
| RAIN AND SNOW |
|
|
 |
MONDAY |
HIGH OF 10 ℃
LOW OF 1 ℃ |
| RAIN AND SNOW |
|
|
 |
TUESDAY |
HIGH OF 13 ℃
LOW OF 4 ℃ |
| SCATTERED CLOUDS |
|
|
 |
WEDNESDAY |
HIGH OF 16 ℃
LOW OF 5 ℃ |
| LIGHT RAIN |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
| Modlily Mother’s Day Sale - Stylish Savings for Mom! |
| |
| Shop trendy women’s fashion for Mother’s Day at Modlily. Enjoy special savings on dresses, tops, and more for a limited time. |
| |
| Limited-time Mother’s Day sale - don’t miss out on stylish savings! |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
 |
 |
MORGAN WALLEN SUPERMAN 02:42 PM |
 |
 |
JEREMY LOOPS WOLVES 02:39 PM |
 |
 |
MADELINE MERLO ONE HOUSE DOWN 02:36 PM |
 |
 |
CARLY PEARCE DREAM COME TRUE 02:32 PM |
 |
 |
TIM MCGRAW COWBOY JUNKIE 02:29 PM |
 |
 |
WALKER HAYES NEON LIGHTS 02:26 PM |
 |
 |
THOMAS RHETT BOTTLE WITH YOUR NAME ON IT 02:23 PM |
 |
 |
MAX MCNOWN AZALEA PLACE 02:20 PM |
 |
 |
GEORGE STRAIT THE JOURNEY OF YOUR LIFE 02:16 PM |
 |
 |
GLORIANA TROUBLE 02:10 PM |
 |

 |